Power Line Vulnerability Closes Air Gap

A new demonstration of malware shows that air-gapped computers may still be at risk.

Security professionals love to talk about the "air gap" as the ultimate in safety for a computer: When it's not attached to network cables or a wireless network, it's presumed to be safe. Presumed, that is, until now. This week, researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev announced that they have come up with a way to exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers via malware that can control the computer's power consumption.

By adding workload to CPU cores that aren't doing anything else, the malware will change how much power (how many watts) the computer is using. Done carefully, the result is, essentially, an FM transmission over the power line. When a probe is placed near the power cable, the modulation can be detected and decoded — and information will have left the system.

The researchers call the malware that controls the power consumption PowerHammer; so far, it's a research proof-of-concept that hasn't been seen in the wild. That's good, because while ways to thwart a PowerHammer-like attack exist, none are perfect.

PowerHammer isn't the first time control or information signals have been sent over power lines. Electric motors are frequently controlled via pulse-width modulation (PWM) sent over the power lines, building control systems have used power-line carriers, and some electrical utilities have experimented with broadband internet access over power lines. This is, however, a reminder that capabilities can be used by individuals and groups with many different agendas.

Join Dark Reading LIVE for a two-day Cybersecurity Crash Course at Interop ITX. Learn from the industry’s most knowledgeable IT security experts. Check out the agenda here. Register with Promo Code DR200 and save $200.

Dark Reading's Quick Hits delivers a brief synopsis and summary of the significance of breaking news events. For more information from the original source of the news item, please follow the link provided in this article. View Full Bio

Online attackers are constantly developing new, innovative ways to break into the enterprise. This Dark Reading Tech Digest gives an in-depth look at five emerging attack trends and exploits your security team should look out for, along with helpful recommendations on how you can prevent your organization from falling victim.

An exploitable vulnerability exists in the verified boot protection of the Das U-Boot from version 2013.07-rc1 to 2014.07-rc2. The affected versions lack proper FIT signature enforcement, which allows an attacker to bypass U-Boot's verified boot and execute an unsigned kernel, embedded in a legacy i...